Thanks to hefman for this bottle, arriving in a well-packed box several weeks ago. Fall 2013 vintage split with my wife.

Fucknutsfuckingfuckloads. I nick the top & it spews like Ron Jeremy: all over my the counter, the floor, my Columbia, probably on the neighbors deck, too. Minus 45 points & several ounces. Two towels & several minutes later, I try to pour the beer gently, with little success. Even a feather-light pour overtops the big snifter I ease it into. After all that, it’s orange. Smells very wine-like, pear, grapes, gentle sweetness. No brett in evidence, but at least the smell didn’t foul my shirt.

Chardonnay Barrel Belgian Ale – Fall Migration might be more appropriately found in the wine aisle. The wine barrels are aggressive, & the drying brett plus wood makes it even more vinous. Even more gung-ho is the spitfire carbonation, which is almost seltzer-like in the mouth, fizzing & distracting. Pop rocks, anyone? Finish is light fruit, pear, grapes, a little banana. Half a bomber is enough, I’ll likely be belching between snores tonight.

The carbonation here is serious miss & really detracts from the beer, even aside from the physical disaster. A good beer, maybe a better champagne.

Taste: This tastes like a white wine cream sickle. Yeah, I just made that word up, but this is exactly what it would taste like if you swap the orange profile in a cream sickle for white wine flavor profile. It is both weird yet it seems keeps my interest. Got some pale malts in there too.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied beer with low carbonation levels.

Overall: I think that this bottle did not age well. Was hoping that the brett would help the beer stay more carbonated than it actually was. This beer must have had a very strong white wine barrel presence when it was fresh based on how big the white wine still was in this beer.